Volcanoes Might Have Shifted the Moon's Axis, Study Says

Let's talk about moon volcanoes and so-called "total pole wander." New research published in the journal "Nature" shows that around 3.5 billion years ago, volcanoes on the Moon were so hot they melted the Moon's mantle. Scientists say as it floated around the Moon, the magma shifted the axis that the moon rotates on by 125 miles.

How did researchers find this out? Well, they looked at hydrogen deposits near the moon's poles which is presumably where the Moon's current axis is. And they found other deposits in different spots that were directly across from the first deposits. It's about a 5.5-degree difference accounting for the shift, which would have moved at around an inch per 126 years. While this pole shift theory is cool, critics of the research aren't quite sure if the hydrogen has been around for billions of years which might knock this theory a little off-kilter. For Newsbeat Social, I'm Molly Riehl.